Owners of the Millstone nuclear power plants will now be able to compete against wind and solar to sell power in “zero emission” state energy auctions as a result of a final decision issued Wednesday by Connecticut regulators.

Dominion Energy officials have been seeking that ruling, arguing they need to be able to compete in those potentially more favorable energy auctions in order to be profitable enough to keep their Waterford nuclear plants in operation.

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Wednesday’s final decision by PURA echoes a preliminary ruling issued last month.

The final decision by the state Public Utilities Regulatory Authority found that the Waterford facilities are “at risk of retirement” if Dominion isn’t allowed to participate in those zero emission energy auctions.

“This means that Dominion’s bids in the zero carbon [energy auctions] will be judged on their price, as well as environmental and economic attributes,” Dominion spokesman Kenneth A. Holt said in a statement.

Potential competitors and environmentalists have argued that the Connecticut nuclear plants are and will remain profitable and there is no real risk Dominion would shut those facilities down in the near future. Critics also insist that nuclear power does have long-term pollution problems because of spent nuclear fuel.

Other power companies and environmentalists claim Dominion shouldn’t be allowed to take part in a more profitable way of selling its energy in competition with truly non-polluting operations such as wind and solar power.

Dominion officials repeatedly warned that it might be forced to close the nuclear plants if it wasn’t given access to those energy markets. State and regional officials say the Waterford plants are a critical part of Connecticut’s and New England’s power grid and loss of the facilities would create serious problems.

“We provided regulators with unprecedented access to our audited financials,” Holt said, saying all three different state agencies that participated in evaluating the plant’s finances agreed on the “at risk” determination.

PURA officials said in their ruling that the decision only concerns whether Dominion should be allowed to participate in the zero emission auctions and “does not reach the issue of whether a power purchase agreement with Millstone should be selected” or approved by state energy officials.

The finding will allow state officials to consider “economic development” as well as the price Dominion is seeking for its energy when evaluating bids in the auction. A 2016 state report estimated that Millstone generates $1.5 billion in annual economic impact in Connecticut and employs more than 1,000 workers.